Truss pad and pad mounting



March l1 8, 1958 F. BREUER rmuss PAD AND PAD MDUNTING Filed July 18, 1956 mvNToR Fre d iBrez/.e2 1

BY y",

I ATTORNEY Giinitccl Statcslatent Office 2,827,047 rnUss PAD AND nPAD MOUNTING Fred Breuer, Lowell, Ariz.

applicati@ hay 1s, 195e, serial Nassassi 6 Claims. (Cl. 12S- 111) This invention relates to a novel truss pad for use by persons suffering from hernias or ruptures, and has for its primary object to provide a pad and pad mounting which is so constructed that the harness, by means of which the pad is held inan applied positionon the body of the user, will be supported relative to the body so as not to cut, bruise or irritate the flesh.

Another object of theinventiou is to provide a pad Vand padmounting which Vwill permit the pad proper, which contacts thebodyrto flex freely in such a manner that the shape of the pad will vary to maintain conformity to the part of the body engaged thereby during various body movements, to thus provide maximum comfort to the wearer as well as the proper application of pressure by the pad against the injured portion of the body on which the pad isdisposed.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a pad and pad mounting which is so constructed that the pressure of the supporting harness (the waist encircling belt and crotch strap) will be exerted against a resilient element of the mounting by means of which the tension of the harness will be resiliently transmittedto the pad for causing-the pad to yieldably. press against and conformably fit the part of the body engaged thereby and to insure a uniform pressure of all parts of the pad against the body.

Various other Objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure l is a front elevational view showing two of the .pads and pad mountings assembled together;

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 2--2 of Figure l; Y

Figures 3 and 4 are enlarged cross sectional views, taken substantially along planes as indicated by the lines 3 3 and,4- -4, respectively, of Figure l;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the pad and mounting on a somewhat reduced scale, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 5 5 of Figure 2, and

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 6 6 of Figure 5.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the pad and Vpad mounting in its entirety` and comprising the invention is designated generally 8 and includes an elongated relatively thick block 9 of a resilient cushioning material such as sponge rubber having a substantially flat inner side 10 which is adapted to be placed over the part of the body of the wearer where the hernia or rupture protrudes for exerting a yielding pressure against said body portion, not shown. The outer or top side 11 of the pad 9 is also substantially flat.

The mounting, designated generally 12 for the pad 9, includes a base composed of preferably four rigid, relatively thick plate-like sections 13, 14, and 16 which 2,827,047 Patented Mar-.1,18f11958 are suitably bonded to said outer or` topgside 11ofwthe pad in spaced apart relation to one another, as best seen Vin Figure 2. The pad 9 may be provided with a covering, not shown, for at least ,covering the area'vof-.rthe-pad l which contacts the body of the user.

The mounting 12 valso includes a hinge, designated generally 17, including a hinge leaf 18l which A,overlies and is disposed againstthe two uppermost-basesections 13 and 14, and a hinge leaf 19 which overlies `and is secured against the two lower base sections 15 vand 2,16. The hinge leaves 18 and 19 are secured to thebase sections 14 and 15, respectively, .by fastenings 20, as best seen in Figure 5. The adjacent ends of the hinge leaves 18 and 19 are provided with interlitting barrell portions 21 which turnably engage a hinge pin 122 which extends Vthrough ,said aligned barrel portions 21 of theleaves'lS and 19. The hinge pin 22 and barrels `21 are disposed over the gap between the base sections 14 and 15,as` best illustrated in Figure 2. The hinge leavesr18 and V19 are provided with struck-out portions forming ridges 23 which are spaced from and disposed substantially parallel to the hinge axis 22 and nearer said hinge axis than the remote ends of the leaves 18 and V19.

The mounting 12 also includes anrouterresilient hinge, designated generally 24, including a relatively small upper leaf 25 which overlies the upper portion of the'hinge leaf 18, which is disposed remote from the hinge axis 22, and which istsecured to leafV 18 by fastenings 26. The fastening 26 thus anchor the hinge leaf 18 to the upper base section 13. The outer hinge 24 also includes an elongated. hingevleaf 27 which is formed of a-resilient material such as spring steel. The upper end of the hinge leaf 27 and the outwardly olfset-lower end of the hinge leaf 25 are provided with intertting barrel portions 28 through which extends a hinge pin 29 for -swingably mounting the `hinge leaf 27 on the hinge Ileaf 25. i

A metal strap 30 is disposed crosswise of the lower portion of the lower hinge leaf 19 and issecured thereto Iby fastenings 31, which also anchor the hinge 1eaff19 to the base section 16,- as seen in Figure 4. Thegstrap 30 has an intermediate portion, disposed between the -fastenings 31, which is olset away from a contiguous portion of the hinge leaf.19^and which combines therewith to form a guide s1otd32. The resilient hinge leaf 27 is provided with an'inwardly offset restricted lower end forming a tongue 33 ,which extends downwardly through and` is slidablyr disposed in the guide slot 32. inwardly turned backend portions of a flexible strip are anchored by the fastenings 31 to the outerv side of the end portions of thestrap 30 so that said flexible strip combines with the intermediate portion of the strap 30 I to form a ilexible loop 34 which is disposed on the outer side of the strap 3), for apurpose which will hereinafter be described. As best seen in Figures 2 and 3, the inner end of astud 35 is suitably anchored as seen at 36 to a central portion ofthe resilient hinge leaf Y 27, outwardly with respect to the hinge axis 22. The stud 35 has a head 37 Vat its outer endwhich isspaced outwardly from the hinge leaf 27.

A pair of corresponding belt loop` attaching plates 38 have openings 39Y in corresponding ends thereof which engage the stud 35, inwardly with respect to the head 37 yand which plate ends are arranged in overlapping relation to one another, as best seen in Figures l and 3. The opposite outer ends of the attaching plates 38 are turned outwardly and back upon themselves to form hooks t.

Figure l illustrates the use of a pair of the truss pads and pad mountings 8 to be used by a person suffering from a double hernia. T-he yadjacent two plates 38 of the two units 8 are engaged by metal loops 41 which are connected to the ends of a exible strap 42, the length l of which can be adjusted by a conventional clamp 43. TheV hooks 40 of the other, remote attaching plates 33 are engaged by metal loops 4.4 which are connected to the ends of a fabric waist encircling belt 45, of a conventional type whichV is adjustable, and onlyV the ends of which are shown. Where only a single unit 3 is utilized, the right Jvided with a conventional hook i7V whichV engages the Vstud 35 between the stud head 37 and the outermost attaching plate 33. The crotch strap de is utilized when either one or a pair of the pad units are employed and, if desired, a second crotch strap 46 may be attached to the other, right hand pad unit 8, where two su-ch units are utilized, although this is not essential.

The mounting unit 12 cooperates with the pad 9 to prevent the parts 3S, 41, 44 and 47 from contacting the body of the wearer and thus eliminates bruising and cutting of the skin which frequently occurs in the Vuse of conventional truss pads. The spaced sections 13, 14, 15 and 16 constituting the mounting base permit the pad 9^to ex as well las yield and the base hinge 17 permits bending of the upper and lower halves of the pad 9 rela-Y tive to vone another. When either half of the pad bends outwardly relative to the other half,'the ridge portion 23 which ,moves with the outwardly bending pad half engages the resilient hinge leaf 27 which resists outward movement thereof and tends to yieldably urge the pad and pad mounting 8 back toward its normal shape as illustrated Vin the drawing. The rocking movement of theV upper and lower halves of the pad and of the hinge leaves 18 and ,19 about the hinge axis 22 also affects a change in the distance between the ends of the hinge 17 and to compensate for this and for the flexing of the resilient v thereby, while the wearer is bending, twisting or stretching the body. Additionally, the pad will immediately resume its normal shape as illustrated in the drawing when the wearer resumes a normal position. It will thus be apparent that Vthe pad 9 with its novel mounting unit 12may be worn with a maximum of 'comfort and beneiit to the wearer. TheY harness, including the waist strap 45Y and crotch strap 46, and including said parts and the Y .connecting strap 42,V mayV be tightened or `loosened to Vincrease orV decrease pressure on the spring plate 27.

When the harness -straps are tightened an inward pres` sure will be exerted against the spring plate 27 to cause it to yieldably bear'against'the ridges 23 for yieldably urging the end portions'of the pad 9 inwardly into tighter 'contact with the injury engaged lby the pad face 10 and it will be apparent that` the yielding pressure Ythus exerted by the hinge plate 27 on the ridges 23 will cause a uniform pressure to be exerted throughout the entire varea of the pad face It).

Various modifications and changes are contemplated `and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A truss pad and pad mounting comprising a relatively thick Velongated block of a flexible and resilient material having aV substantially flat inner face adapted to be disposed against a part of the body of the wearer and a substantially iiat outer face, a pad mounting including an elongated hinge base secured to the outer side of said pad and having a hinge laxis disposed transversely of the pad and substantially intermediate of the ends'the'reof, a spring plate formed of a resilient material overlying and spaced outwardly from said hinge base, means pivotally supporting one end of saidspring plate about. an'axis disposed transversely of the pad and Vadjacent one end thereof and of the hinge base, means slidably connecting kthe opposite end of the spring plate to the hinge base adjacent the opposite end thereof, and .means connected to and disposed on an outer side of an intermediate portion of the spring plate for 'attaching a body encircling harness to the pad mounting. t

2. A truss pad' and mounting as in claim 1, said hingeVY base having outwardly projecting transversely extending portions forming ridges disposed between the hinge axis thereof and the ends'of said hinge base to which the springl plate is connected to yieldably resist iexing of the pad and bending of the hinge base.

3. A truss pad and pad mounting-as inv claim l, said hinge base including hinge leaves extending from the hinge axis toward the ends of the pad, and a base disposed between Ysaid hinge'leaves and the pad and composed of rigid sections secured to the outer side of thepad and disposed in spaced apart relation toY one another to define transversely spaced gaps between said sections,

one of said gaps being ydisposed immediately beneath the Y hinge axis of the base.

4. A truss pad andV pad mounting as inclaim 1, said pad mounting including an outer hinge, said outer hinge including a small hinge leaf rigidly connected to the base adjacent the first mentioned end thereof -and constitutingV said rst mentioned means and a long leaf, said spring plate constituting said long leaf of the outer hinge.

SA truss pad and pad mounting as inclaim 1, said harness attaching means comprising a headed studfiixed to and extending outwardly from a central portion of said spring plate, attaching plates' detachably and'turnably connected to Vsaid stud and adapted toibe detachably Vconnected to end loops of a body encircling strap, and said stud being adapted to be engaged byv an ,end loop of a crotch strap.Y f

6. A truss pad and pad mounting asin claim 5, and a exible loop securedto and overlying an end of the hinge base and adapted to loosely accommodate a portion Vof the crotch strap. t

References YCited in theV file of this patent: UNITED STATES PATENTS 

